Falling For Her
by Vamp Junkie
Summary: When Natalie becomes a Strigoi in Vampire Academy pages 321-324 in Dimitri's POV


I don't own Vampire Academy, or any of these characters. They all belong to Richelle Mead.

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I was patrolling the Moroi dorms, trying to keep my mind off of Rose, when I tripped over something.

The Slavic Arts teacher, Mr. Nagy was lying on the ground, cold and unmoving. I was about to put my fingers on his throat to feel for a pulse, when I say to puncture marks on the main artery of the neck.

There was a Strigoi on campus.

I stood up and followed the trail of blood to the school's prison, where Victor was being held. There were two guards on the ground in front of the building and two inside. I quickly stopped to make sure that they were alright, but I kept following the blood trail once I saw that they were alright.

As soon as I rounded the corner, I saw Natalie, Victor's daughter, throw my Roza into a wall. My Roza stumbled and fell, and I had a feeling she wouldn't be getting back up.

Fury blinded me and I went up to Natalie and started fighting her. How dare she hurt Roza, my Roza? She was all I could think about, until I realized that I had staked Natalie. She screamed, yet I didn't care, this was what she got, what she deserved.

After I was sure she was dead, I rushed over to Roza. I picked her up, just like I had done when she hurt her ankle.

"Hey, Comrade," she said, so faintly that I wouldn't have been able to hear it if I wasn't a dhampir, "You were right about Strigoi." She looked like she was going to say more, but she didn't have enough strength and her eyes began to close.

"Rose. Roza. Open your eyes." She couldn't die; I wouldn't be able to live without her. I didn't know if she would get more hurt if she passed out. "Don't go to sleep on me. Not yet." I was almost running, trying to get to the infirmary in time.

"Was he right?" Who was she talking about?

"Who?" I asked

"Victor…" She cringed when she said his name. Victor was now at the top of my Kill Slowly and Painfully list, "he said it couldn't have worked. The necklace." I thought she was just babbling now, but her eyes started to close, so I told her to continue.

"What do you mean?"

"The spell. Victor said you had to want me… to care about me… for it to work," so that was why she went to Victor. I can't believe she had really thought that I didn't love her; it had killed me inside to tell her that I didn't like her that way.

"Did you? Did you want me?" She tried to grab onto my shirt, but she was too weak. I had to tell her how I felt.

"Yes, Roza. I did want you. I still do. I wish... we could be together," couldn't she see how much this was hurting me? How much I wanted to protect her at every turn?

"Then why did you lie to me?" She asked, there was pain evident in her voice. We had reached the clinic and I started yelling for people to help my Roza. What was taking them so long?

"Because we can't be together," I set my jaw; I had to be tough for her through this.

"Because of the age thing, right? Because you're my mentor?" How could she think that those things could keep me away from her? She had started to cry, so I gently wiped the tear away.

"That's part of it, but also… well, you and I will both be Lissa's guardians someday. I need to protect her at all costs. If a pack of Strigoi came, I need to throw my body between them and her." Couldn't she see how much I wanted to protect her from everything that would hurt her?

"I know that. Of course that's what you have to do." She didn't understand I wouldn't risk losing her. She started to black out again, where were all the people who could help her?

"No. If I let myself love you, I won't throw myself in front of her. I'll throw myself in front of you." Realization finally dawned in her eyes.

The medical team finally came and took her out of my arms. I watched as they took her down the hall and realized that I had already begun to love her.

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**Did you like it? Hate it? Review! No flames please. This is my first!**

**-Vamp Junkie :) **


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